Malaysia Day 2 - Melaka

My second day in Malaysia started before dawn. I decided to go for a day trip down to Melaka - a town that made it to UNESCO's world heritage list in 2008. I took the KL subway to the bus terminal together with quite a few early commuters.
At that time KL's main bus station was under reconstruction, but thanks to many fellow travellers who posted on Tripadvisor I knew, where I have to go and what bus I should take. It all sounds so easy, just take the subway and then you get off at stop X and board your bus. I wish!
When I got off the subway, there were no signs pointing me to the direction of the bus terminal. I had to rely on the people who seemed all to go into one direction. I thought I had nothing to loose, so I followed the masses. However, finding the right bus wasn't as easy. It seemed to be just a field provisionally turned into bus terminal. There were no boards with timetables, no numbers of terminals, no nothing. Had I not known, I have to look for a company called "Transnasional" I would have been quite lost.
There were all kinds of busses from various companies and behind their window shields they had little boards with the names of the places they were going to.
There was no central booth to buy tickets and I assumed I had to buy tickets directly on the bus. I had to walk all down the bus "terminal" to finally see a couple of busses with big "TRANSNASIONAL" signs on their sides. There were not many people waiting, yet there was a small tent where a girl was selling tickets. She asked me if I wanted a return ticket, but I was silly enough to take a one-way only. I thought it would give me more flexibility to travel back, whenever I feel I have seen enough.
Well ... since I had left the hostel before it was time for breakfast, my stomach was protesting. Luckily, there were some booths selling "breakfast" - i.e. VERY sweet coffee and VERY sweet buns. It seems that everything in SE-Asia has to be sweet. Just like the instant coffee served on board of AirAsia flights or the instant coffee served in the hostels or just anywhere. If you're like me and drink your coffee black, no sugar, thank you .... you'll have a hard time finding your preferred drink in SE Asia. But, as we say in Slovak, hunger is the best chef ... so I had some sweet buns and some lemonade to calm my stomach.
And off we went, two hours down south, driving along half-empty roads, I almost fell asleep and don't remember much from the ride.
The adventure began when we arrived at Melaka bus terminal. I didn't want to be ripped off by yet another taxi driver, so I went looking for a bus to take me downtown. I knew, it had to be bus number 17, but again, there seemed to be no order in the chaos of busses going into all directions. I walked up and down and never saw a sign for bus number 17. Or rather, I did see it, but there was another bus parked in that spot and I certainly didn't want to end up in some other unknown place in the middle of Malaysia.
Finally, a bus with a big 17 arrived. It looked more than a little bit worn down, it was more like some museum exhibit, held together with sellotape. The bus driver was smoking a cigarette and looked a bit like an old pirate. I asked if he was indeed going to town and he just gestured that I should get on the bus. I expected there would be more tourists, just to be sure that I am on the right bus, but for a long while I was the only foreigner among many locals. They happily chatted away and I wished I understood what they were talking about. It's strange, how unnerving it can be, if you don't have ANY idea of what people say.
Finally, some tourists did arrive and I instantly felt a lot better. Soon after that the bus left the terminal and I was hoping, I'd find the stop where I would have to get off.
No need to worry, the bus driver alerted me and I spotted the historic central (Dutch) square anyway. It was full of tourist stands, fancy tuk-tuks and people.
The red buildings you'll see in all publications about Melaka looked less impressive than on the pictures. Maybe it was due to the clouds, casting a grey shadow over the town, but also the red didn't seem as bright and the buildings were kind of small. I didn't go inside to see all the museums, first I wanted to see the rest of the town.
From the Dutch square you can walk up the hill with an old church ruin (St. Paul's), to get a view of the sea and the town beneath. Climbing uphill in 38 degrees Celsius and almost 100% humidity certainly is no fun, but the view is worth it.
Back down, you should continue to walk through China town that begins just across the river from the main square. The houses are impressively decorated, there is the alleged oldest Chinese tepmple in Malaysia (Tokong Cheng Hoon) and Malaysia's supposedly oldest mosque (Masjid Kampung Hulu) and a Hindu temple (Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar), yet, again, due to Chinese New Years celebrations, all the streets were deserted. No food stalls that are supposed to serve the best food you can find, even most of the restaurants were closed. So I went back to the main square and from there up to Little India. There was more life in the streets, colourful shops, selling spices, saris, beads and what have you. I wanted to walk to the oldest Roman Catholic church of Malaysia, as I had seen the oldest mosque and the oldest Chinese temple, but somehow I managed to get lost and it was getting late and I was worried to miss my bus back, so I decided to head back to town.
I thought it would be easy to get a bus back to the bus terminal. After all, there was a tourist centre and they pointed me to the bus stop. However, there was no timetable or no real indication as to when a bus would leave and how long it would take back to the terminal.
Then a 17 bus arrived and I followed an American couple who also wanted to get to the bus terminal. However, the driver refused to take us. Unfortunately, he was unable to tell us why, he just said NO! So there we were a bit lost for words ... wondering how to get back to the terminal on time. Luckily we were able to get a taxi. So even if we did get stuck in awful traffic, I still made it to the terminal way ahead of time.
The terminal was crowded, it was almost impossible to find a place to sit. There were little shops selling all kinds of stuff, there were little fast food joints ... basically it was easy to spend an hour there waiting for the bus, just observing the world around me.
Still, I was quite happy to board my bus back.
One day for Melaka - if you just walk around it's a lot of walking, but with two days you'd be able to explore the hidden gems too. My advice: avoid travelling around Chinese New Year!

The story continues

No, I did not get lost in KL, nor did anything bad happen. I just didn't find the time or place to write, while I was staying in hostels on the road. And when I got home, the "business-as-usual" got the better of me.
But here I am now, to write down what I saw, experienced and learned.
On my first day in KL I left the hostel very early. According to the weather forecast there should have been rain showers throughout the day and I just wanted to catch a glimpse of the city from above - the KL TV Tower. You may wonder, why I didn't go up the Petronas Twin Towers ... after all, probably the most prominent landmark. Well, according to many reviews I read on Tripadvisor, it was much more worthwhile to go up the TV tower, to see the Twins from above. Moreover, to get to the Petronas Skybridge you have to queue for tickets early in the morning as places are limited. And I didn't want to queue and then find out there would be no ticket for me.
When I got to KL Menara (the TV tower) the visitor's deck was still closed! I thought this was hilarious, since I usually have a problem getting up before 8 AM, but while traveling, it seemed so easy to get up at dawn.
From above I saw a modern city with lots of highrises scattered around, green areas and hills in the background. It could have been any modern city anywhere. Most impressive, of course, were the Petronas Twins. I have to admit, I have a soft spot for tall buildings. Maybe, because I'm tall myself? :-)
However, tall buildings are even more impressive from the ground, standing beneath them. And so was I, standing at the foot of the Twins, admiring the architecture. As my luck would have it, the sun came out and the skies were without a single cloud. As the Germans say "Postkartenwetter" - weather to make postcards. I walked around a bit, through a little park that's on the back side of the towers, but then I felt I had enough of "modern stuff" and went looking for some "more real" KL.
It wasn't very difficult to find. It's funny, how new highrises are in the next street to some old run-down houses, where people hang their clothes out of their windows for drying. And about drying ... I wonder how anything can actually dry in more than 90% air humidity!
So there I was, walking around the empty backstreets of KL. I guess people in those hot and humid climates avoid walking as much as possible, but then again, I have to "walk a city" to get a feeling for it.
My first lunch in KL was my first true local experience. I walked past a few local restaurants, but it wasn't easy to pluck up the courage and just walk in, sit down and order food. Most of the places I saw only had male guests and I wasn't sure I wouldn't be offending someone or breaking some etiquette if I just came in.
And then I spotted a blonde girl, sitting alone in a restaurant full with men wearing turbans. Nobody paid any attention to her, but for me, she was a life-saver. I finally plucked up the courage and went in.
I wasn't really sure what I ordered, all those exotic names ... but it was good and of course spicy as hell!
I continued walking in the afternoon, down Jalan Bukit Bintang and I finished walking in the Masjid Jamek - a mosque. So after all these Buddhist temples I visited in Thailand, this was the first mosque I ever saw in real life and of course I had to go in. I was wearing long pants and had a shawl to cover my head, but that was not enough to satisfy the mosque guard. I had to borrow one of the over-robes they give out to toursits who need to be dressed appropriately to enter a mosque. The guard also told me that I'm not allowed to enter the praying area, but I wouldn't have wanted to disturb the people in there anyway. There were no other tourists except a Chinese-looking guy, who asked me to take his photo and for the third and last time on my 44-day trip I asked someone to take a photo of me. Being in a mosque, all covered to respect Muslim rules, seemed worthwhile to break my rule of never posing in front of sights. (my other two photos were taken, because people offered to take them and I didn't want to offend).
It was the eve of the first day of the Chinese New Year and since the hostel was located close to China Town, it was impossible to get any local food! A Chinese girl I met at the hostel suggested we try a Chinese place in the street where our hostel was, however after initially suggesting that we pay double the usual price, because of CNY, the waiter quickly changed her mind and said, we can't get any food, because of CNY! Lesson learned: when you're in areas inhabited by Chinese, expect all businesses to be closed and the streets deserted around CNY.
We had to eat at McDonald's of all places!
So that was day one of Kuala Lumpur.